All Destinations

Austin is Texas with the volume turned up — a tech-money boomtown still nursing its "Keep Austin Weird" soul. Live music spills from honky-tonks on South Congress, smoked brisket lines form by 10 a.m. at Franklin, and Lady Bird Lake threads the downtown skyline with paddleboards and bats. Rainey Street, East Austin, and the Hill Country day-trip loop all reward a car or rideshare.

Ayutthaya is the brick-and-laterite ghost of the second Siamese capital, sacked by the Burmese in 1767 and never rebuilt. The historical park, a UNESCO site since 1991, sits on an island wrapped by three rivers 80 kilometres north of Bangkok, and the three signature ruins — Wat Mahathat with the Buddha head wrapped in fig roots, riverside Wat Chaiwatthanaram glowing at sunset, and royal Wat Phra Si Sanphet — are all rentable-bicycle distance from each other. Trains from Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong take 90 minutes and cost 20 baht in third class. The night market at Bang Ian draws the food crowd; the Khlong Sa Bua boat noodle stalls draw the regulars.

Azerbaijan's capital is one of the world's most architecturally jarring cities — a UNESCO medieval Old City (Icherisheher) with the Maiden Tower and Shirvanshahs' Palace sits directly beneath Flame Towers, three stainless-steel skyscrapers lit at night to simulate fire. The Heydar Aliyev Center (Zaha Hadid, 2012) is one of this century's signature buildings. Gobustan's Bronze Age petroglyphs and mud volcanoes are 65 km south. F1 hosts the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the city's streets every June.

Bangkok is a sensory overload in the best way — ornate temples rise next to gleaming malls, street food sizzles on every corner, and the Chao Phraya River winds through it all. The city rewards both short visits and deep dives, with a mix of must-see landmarks and hidden neighborhoods that feel worlds apart from the tourist trail.

The gateway town to Acadia National Park on the northeast shore of Mount Desert Island, three hours by car from Portland. Once a Gilded Age summer colony for Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Astors (the 1947 fire destroyed most of the cottages), Bar Harbor today is a compact downtown of brick storefronts, lobster pounds, ice-cream parlours, and the trailhead for nearly every Acadia visitor's first day. Cadillac Mountain summit (1,530 feet, the highest point on the eastern seaboard) is a 20-minute drive away, the carriage roads start a mile south, and Jordan Pond House serves the legendary popovers a 15-minute drive from the town pier.

Barcelona is where Gothic architecture meets Gaudí's surreal masterpieces, where tapas bars spill onto sunny plazas, and where the beach is just a metro ride from the mountains. The Catalan capital has a creative energy all its own — distinct from the rest of Spain and fiercely proud of it.

Argentina's Patagonian lake district capital — a Swiss-chocolate town on the shore of Nahuel Huapi Lake beneath the Andes. Cerro Catedral is South America's largest ski resort; the Circuito Chico drive is one of the hemisphere's most scenic road loops. The "chocolate capital of Argentina" hosts artisan chocolatiers on every corner of Mitre street.

Britain's most perfectly preserved Georgian city, and the only British city designated entirely as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Roman Baths — a 2,000-year-old complex fed by Britain's only natural hot spring at 46°C — rank among the finest Roman remains in Northern Europe. The Royal Crescent (1767–1775), The Circus, and Pulteney Bridge (shops on both sides, one of only four in the world) form the Georgian masterwork that inspired Jane Austen, who lived here from 1801 to 1806.

Cambodia's second-largest city and quiet cultural capital, draped along the lazy Sangker River in the country's rice-bowl northwest. Battambang preserves more French colonial shophouses than anywhere else in Cambodia, with verandahed two-storey rows now housing boutique hotels, third-wave coffee bars, and the studios of Phare Ponleu Selpak, the circus and arts school founded in 1994 to support children orphaned by the Khmer Rouge era. Bamboo Train rides on improvised flat platforms, the cliff temples of Phnom Sampeau with their grim Killing Caves, and the brick stupas of Wat Banan and Wat Ek Phnom round out a destination most travellers regret skipping.

Georgia's subtropical Black Sea city is a unique architectural kaleidoscope — Ottoman, Art Nouveau, Soviet, and contemporary towers sit side by side. The Alphabet Tower rotates in the wind at 130m; the Ali and Nino kinetic sculpture merges and separates every 10 minutes. Visa-free for 95 nationalities for a full year — Batumi is one of the most accessible destinations in the Caucasus.

China's capital is a treasure trove of imperial history — the Forbidden City, Great Wall, and Temple of Heaven are just the beginning. Ancient hutong neighborhoods, world-class Peking duck, and a rapidly modernizing cityscape make Beijing endlessly fascinating.

The Paris of the Middle East is a resilient Mediterranean city of ancient ruins, legendary cuisine, vibrant nightlife, and a creative spirit that persists through every challenge.

Northern Ireland's capital has transformed from the epicenter of the Troubles into one of the UK's most vibrant cities. Titanic Belfast is the world's largest Titanic exhibition. The political murals of Falls and Shankill Roads are among the most powerful pieces of public art in Europe. The Cathedral Quarter's Victorian pubs and the covered St. George's Market are the social heart of modern Belfast.

Serbia's capital at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers is famous for its legendary nightlife, Kalemegdan Fortress, hearty Balkan cuisine, and irrepressible spirit.

Norway's second city and the gateway to the western fjords — a UNESCO Hanseatic port wrapped around a harbour hemmed in by seven mountains. Bryggen's coloured wooden wharf buildings are Bergen in a single postcard. The Fløibanen funicular hauls you up Mount Fløyen for fjord-and-city views; the Bergen Railway to Oslo is one of the world's most scenic train rides; and Nærøyfjord (UNESCO) is an easy day trip by Norway in a Nutshell. It rains 270 days a year. Bring a waterproof.

Berlin is Europe's capital of reinvention — a city shaped by its turbulent history and defined by its creative present. The Wall may be gone but its legacy is everywhere, from the East Side Gallery to the vibrant neighborhoods that grew up in its shadow. Cheap by Western European standards, with legendary nightlife and a thriving art scene.

Switzerland's federal capital — not Zurich, despite the common assumption — wrapped in a horseshoe bend of the turquoise Aare river. The medieval old town gained UNESCO status in 1983 for its 6 km of continuous sandstone arcades, the 1530 Zytglogge astronomical clock that still chimes on the hour, and the Bundeshaus where the Federal Council meets. Albert Einstein wrote his 1905 papers here while working at the patent office. In summer, locals float the Aare straight through the old town with a waterproof bag for their clothes.

The Basque Country's industrial-turned-cultural capital — still rough and confident around the edges where polished San Sebastián is precious. Frank Gehry's 1997 titanium-cloud Guggenheim Museum kicked off the most successful urban regeneration in modern Europe (the global "Bilbao Effect"); the Nervión riverbank that was biologically dead in the 1980s now runs from Calatrava bridges through the Old Town's Casco Viejo, where Calle del Perro's pintxo bars deliver dinner-quality bites for €3–€5 each. Add the Mercado de la Ribera (Europe's largest covered food market), Norman Foster's gleaming metro, and the Athletic Club Bilbao stadium where every player is Basque — and you get a bigger, edgier, dramatically cheaper alternative to San Sebastián.

Kyrgyzstan's leafy capital is the gateway to Central Asia's most spectacular mountain scenery. Soviet-era plazas, buzzing bazaars, excellent Kyrgyz cuisine, and easy day trips to Ala Archa gorge and Issyk-Kul lake make it an underrated destination.

Bogota is a high-altitude capital undergoing a cultural renaissance. La Candelaria's colonial streets are alive with street art, the Gold Museum is dazzling, and Monserrate offers sweeping views from 3,150m. The food scene is booming, the coffee is (unsurprisingly) excellent, and the Ciclovia turns major roads into a car-free playground every Sunday.

Idaho's capital sits where the high desert meets the Rockies — the Boise River cuts straight through downtown, lined by a 25-mile greenbelt of cottonwoods and bike paths that locals treat as the city's spine. The state's only Basque population in the country (roughly 15,000) gave Boise a Basque Block of pintxos bars and the Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga House. Add the climbable foothills behind town, the gold-domed Idaho State Capitol, and a tech scene anchored by Micron and HP, and you have one of the fastest-growing small cities in the West.

Italy's culinary capital — birthplace of tortellini, ragù, and mortadella. Medieval towers, 40 km of porticoed streets (UNESCO-listed), and the oldest university in the Western world.

Boracay is a 7-km island off the northwest tip of Panay in the central Philippines — and White Beach, its 4-km western strip of powder-fine coral sand, has topped "world's best beach" rankings since the 1990s. The island reopened in 2018 after a six-month government shutdown that overhauled sewage and built setback rules; the result is a cleaner, more regulated, but still very lively beach scene. The west side delivers White Beach's sunset paraws (outrigger sailboats), island-hopping to Crystal Cove and Magic Island, while the windward east-side Bulabog Beach is the kiteboarding and windsurfing capital of Asia from November to April.

The world's wine capital and a UNESCO World Heritage city — Place de la Bourse and its Miroir d'Eau (the world's largest reflecting pool) anchor a centre of 18th-century limestone Hausmannian elegance that earned the nickname Little Paris. La Cité du Vin is the most ambitious wine museum on earth. Saint-Émilion's Romanesque monolithic church and chateaux are 40 minutes east; Médoc's first-growth grand crus 45 minutes north; the Atlantic and Dune du Pilat (Europe's tallest dune) an hour west. The TGV puts Paris just 2h05 away.